a oe

- held a conference April 20-21 in

UNITY OF FORCES

The Alliance of the National
Democratic and Peace Forces
established in Saigon at the time
of the general Tet offensive,

the region of Saigon-Cholon.
Here they elected a central com-
mittee and adopted a program of
action.

In a communique published
after the conference, the deci-
sions were outlined. The Al-
liance sent its affectionate greet-
ings of sincere solidarity to the
National Liberation Front of
South Vietnam “the patriotic
force which has made meritous
contributions to the work of
national liberation.”

The communique added that
“the conference had opted for
unity of action with the NLF of
South Vietnam, in order that to-
gether the two formations could
fight for independence, national
sovereignty and the reestablish-
ment of peace in the country.”

The conference consisted of
delegates representing diverse
social strata. and political ten-
dencies and, represented mass
Organizations, religious and poli-
tical parties active in the urban
centres of South Vietnam. :

The Alliance was created
“with the aim of uniting all the
patriotic forces and individuals
resolved to resist foreign aggres-
sion, to overthrow the Thieu-Ky
puppet regime, to establish a
national coalition government
and to achieve independence, de-
mocracy and peace.”

The main points of their
gram are as follows: :

“To put an end to the war,
restore peace, recover indepen- |
dence and national sovereignty,
reconstruct South Vietnam into
a state, independent, free, peace-
ful, neutral and prosperous, with
a view to the peaceful reunifica-

tion of the country, by consul-
tations and negotiations between
North and South on the basis of
equality.”

The Alliance demanded that
the United States stop its at-

1954,

tacks on Vietnam, withdraw its
troops, dismantle its bases and
abide by the Geneva Accord of

“The Alliance of National, De-
mocratic and Peace Forces is

on the above-mentioned prob-
lems. Once national sovereignty
is reestablished, the Alliance will
make common cause with patrio-
tic forces and individuals to heal
the wounds of war, embark on
national construction and build
up an independent, sovereign,
democratic, peaceful, neutral
and prosperous state. South Viet-
nam will be an independent
state, fully soverign, having a
foreign policy of non-engage-
ment and of maintaining good
relations with all nations regard-
less of their political systems,
provided that they will truly res-
pect the independence, sover-
eignty and integrity of the ter-
ritory of Vietnam.” :

The North Vietnam Father-

Protest
NORAD

A group of Torontonians con-
cerned about the renewal of
NORAD without: even a debate
in Parliament, ‘have called a de-
monstration for Friday, May 10
between 12 noon and 2 p.m. at
the MacKenzie Building, 12 Ade-
laide East, to oppose the re-
newal.

Stating that May 12 marks
the 10th anniversary of NORAD,
and therefore the date on which
the agreement would normally
expire, the call to the demon-
stration goes on to say: ;

- “Tt is outrageous that the gov-
ernment should thus renew an
agreement subordinating Cana-
dian defense policy to that of
the United States, and limiting
the possibility of an independent
foreign policy. Even in the ab-

. sence of the Vietnam war, there
would be very strong reasons
for abrogating this pact at once:

.Jand Front,’ commenting.’on.”

offices of the Departments of |

establishment of this Allianc
said its birth “is an event of im-
portant significance marking a
new development in the great —

national united bloc for national
salvation.” :
They went on to say that the —

Alliance proves that there are
newly emerging patriotic forces —
in South Vietnam’s urban areas. mi
“It is clear,” they continue, —
“that in these crucial hours of —
our nation, all Vietnamese patri- _
ots, irrespective of social class, |
4

political tendency, nationality —
and religious belief have realized
the necessity to stand shoulder
to shoulder in the struggle
against the common enemy—the ~
United States imperialist aggres- —
sors and the Vietnamese trait- —
ors.” 3

against —

>

renewal —

for a continental defense policy —
reinforces continental economic
ties, and reduces the scope of
Canadian independence. But
when our defense alliance re-
sults in direct Canadian contri- ©
butions to the American war ef- —
fort (and the Defense Sharing —
Agreement followed the signing —
of NORAD by only 9 months), —
the need for protest and action —
is great. oun

“We therefore call on all in-
terested citizens opposed to the —
renewal of NORAD and the con- ~
tinuation of the Defense Sharing —
Agreement, to assemble at the
MacKenzie Government Build- ©
ing at 12 Adelaide E. on Friday —
May 10th, at 12 Noon for a pro- ©
test demonstration aimed at the ©

National Defense and Defense
Production, as well as the U.S.
Air Force Liason im the same
building.”

By TOM MORRIS

When Charles Dickens said, “the
law is an ass”, hé-could have been
Standing on the windy corner of
Winnipeg’s Portage and Main
Streets, or reading the morning
paper’s account of police strong-

.arming another citizen in Toronto.

~ George Paulowich arrived in Win-
nipeg from Toronto on Jan. 11,
checked into a hotel and discover-
ed his wallet had been stolen. In-
nocently believing that the thing to
do was call the police, Mr. Paulo-
wich did just that. What followed
was a piece of impressive public
relations work by the Winnipeg
Police Department.
_ Detectives arrived at the hotel
and arrested George Paulowich. He
-was jailed for 30 days pending com-
pletion of investigation and_preli-
minary hearing of two men charged
with the robbery. When finally _re-
leased, he was told not to leave
town and to report each Friday
until a trial date had been fixed—
which turned out to be on April 26
—105 days after his arrest.
. Judge C. I. Keith, in dismissing
the robbery charge against the two
men, condemned the treatment of
Paulowich and suggested the Crown
pay him a witness fee for the time
spent in jail as well as for attend-

for 105 days?

ance at the trial. Winnipeg director
of prosecution, A. A. Sarchuk, has
called for reports of the case. Great
moye, Mr. Director of Prosecutions,
but where in hell have you been

Mr. Paulowich, having lived in
Toronto, might think that his ex-
perience is simply a dose of West-
ern hospitality. He could exchange
notes with Mr. Kenneth Bruton,
who is trying to get. his house fixed

_ up following a visit by Toronto’s

finest. :

The damage was caused when
police arrived to arrest Mr. Bruton’s
brother-in-law April 29. To appre-
hend the slightly-built 17-year-old
youth, police ripped off a door, tore
a wooden fireplace from the wall,
twisted the suspect’s arms and
pushed Mrs. Bruton against a wall.
Now there seems to be a question
about who is going to put the house
back together. “They told us to get
it fixed and they’d pay for it,” said
Mr. Bruton. “I guess that is an ad-
mission of liability.” Police Chief
James Mackey, with an eye on the
taxpayer’s dollar, says, “It doesn’t
mean we'll pay for it at all. It isn’t
any kind of an admission.”

By all means, nothing should be

Who says ‘the law is an ass’?

admitted. When a 15-year-old boy is
shot in the leg by police is there
any admission? It was “an acci-
dent.” This police officer, in the per
formance of his duty, don’t you un-
derstand, slipped, fell, found his hol-
stered revolver in his hand which
went off and shot the boy.

The sad chronology could go on
and on. For every case reported,
there are hundreds of cases where
the citizen is so damn happy just
to get home that he doesn’t say a
word. “I don’t want any trouble,”
says he. mae

Countless men and women file
into Canadian courtrooms, only to
have their case remanded over and
over again, and are sent back to the
cells to await their time——Most of
them young, none of them rich.

Canadian police chiefs raised a
storm last year by asking for greater
powers. Some of them called for a
return to flogging, arrest without
charges, wiretapping, the right to
enter homes without a warrant and
a “detention law” which would take
care of ‘rabblé-rousers’ and ‘trouble-
makers.’ The hue and cry raised by
the community prevented such laws
and a return to the Middle Ages.

And so, Mr. Paulowich, there isn’t
any law under which you can be
arrested without charges. Maybe it

was all a bad dream. In any case,
you should feel good because there
isn’t a flogging law either. Had
there been, you might even have
stealing your

“confessed”
wallet.

own